ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Ferguson City Council member Michael Palmer was driving the same route he usually drives to and from work every day.
On that route, he usually sees a red van next to a house he passes every day for the past two years until he noticed something strange one day.
"On my way home, about 4:35 p.m., I noticed a vehicle parked kind of strangely and three people dragging bags and possessions kind of through the bushes and then load them into the truck." said Palmer. "I just kind of thought 'that's kind of unusual because for the last two years I haven't seen anything like that happening there.'"
Palmer initially thought of keeping in his own business until he passed one of them, who gave Palmer a look similar to one his children would give to him to admit they did do something wrong.
"A part of me thought 'hey, just keep going, mind your business.' said Palmer. "But then part of me thought, 'that doesn't look right, they kind of gave me a look. So I made the call to the police station on non-emergency number and just said, 'hey, I think you might want to check this out.'"
What Palmer would end up seeing was a burglary underway that day. While the burglars were gone quickly after Palmer made the call, Ferguson police were able to apprehend three burglars the next day after they got another call of suspicious activity at the same house, wearing the same clothes..
"The officers responded pretty quickly, were able to apprehend three individuals that burglarized in this particular residence." said Ferguson Chief of Police Troy Doyle. "It turned out to be the same individuals from the day before."
Doyle applauded Palmer's willingness to call police, stressing the importance of citizens reporting suspicious activity to police.
"It's impossible for law enforcement to be everywhere at every given time." said Doyle. "So we count on citizens such as Councilman Palmer and people in our communities to report things, that doesn't look normal. Report those things to us, give us an opportunity to respond and investigate."
Palmer stresses the importance his fellows neighbors and community members in Ferguson.
"I've always tell people whether I get a text, a phone call or an email from a concerned resident about something that's just off. You know, if I don't take it upon myself to mention that to the proper authorities such as the police department or code enforcement or whoever within the city, I always tell them, it never hurts to make a phone call." said Palmer. "You know, if you want to call 911, it's quick or you can call the non-emergency number, which we make very well known throughout the community. You need just to simply get the operator, but it's good to have that pattern of call history within the computer."